The Light
by The Inspector
Summary: Seto Kaiba has never been on to believe in ghosts, ghouls...or Spirits. But Seth doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon. And Mokuba seems to like him. Arg! Seto never wanted a Hikari.
1. Just what I never Wanted

The Light

By The Inspector

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Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, and I make no money from this. Can you imagine how fun that would be? To make money by writing fan fiction? Dude, where do I sign up? But until that becomes a job that exists somewhere besides in my mind, I make no money. So please don't sue me. Gracias!

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It must have been shortly after Battle City that Seto Kaiba had first seen it. And even then, it had only been for a second. A flash of movement caught in his peripheral vision. But when he turned, nothing was there. He wrote it off as nerves and forgot about it, for awhile.

He was after all, a very busy man. He didn't have the time to deal with such follies as figments of his imagination. He didn't believe in letting any sort of mental paranoia get the better of him, period.

The flurries of movement, flashes of color, which he saw every now and then, were easily ignored. As long as it didn't disturb what he was doing, whatever it was could lurk just out of his vision for as long as it wanted. He wasn't even willing to admit that there _was_ anything there. It was probably only a medical problem with his eyes, though he refused to get it examined.

Why he never got his eyes looked at, he didn't really know. Maybe he was worried that there would be a serious problem with his eyes. Maybe he was worried that there was nothing wrong with them. But whatever the reason, it didn't matter.

Because then things started ending up in wrong places. His pens would have their caps off, his homework was not in his bag even though he had put it there the night before, papers were out of alphabetical order, and other small nuisances.

Unlike the things his eyes would almost see, he was bothered by the disturbances to his stuff. It was against the natural order of his life and it irked him like few things could, like a cat with its fur rubbed the wrong way.

Because as hard as he tried to write it off with some logical explanation, Mokuba, his secretary, shady memory, he could not find a good reason for why it was happening. Someone could not be roaming around his house and office without his knowledge.

Oh he tried to catch it on tape with security cameras, but for some reason, at different times the tape would become fuzzy, and the picture it tried to capture distorted beyond recognition. And no amount of money for better cameras helped the situation. It was like whatever it was _couldn't_ be caught on film. Not that IT was anything.

He was still musing about what else he could do figure out this complexing puzzle when things took an abrupt turn for the worse so that he could no longer ignore it any longer.

Seto had been in the kitchen with Mokuba, finding something quick to eat for lunch. Pulling a cupboard open, he had found an empty jar of peanut butter shoved towards the back and waved it in his little brother's direction. "Turning into an elephant, are we?" he teased.

But Mokuba shook his head. "I didn't do that," he said. "You did. Remember? The day that you fired that girl for being mean to me I came downstairs at night for a glass of water you were eating it straight with a spoon."

Seto suddenly felt himself go very cold. He remembered that night, he had stayed up until two finishing finance report. He had been in his room the whole time. "Are you sure, Mokuba?" he said, trying to keep his voice light like he was still joking.

The raven haired child smiled though and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah," he said, "You got my water for me." Mokuba shook his head with a grin on his face. "You need to stop working so hard, it's making you forgetful."

With a weak smile, Seto grabbed something from the refrigerator for show and then went back to his office. His appetite had totally been killed and he dropped what he had picked for lunch in the trash without a second glance.

For a long time he sat stone still at his desk, just starring into space like a zombie. Every other little oddity paled next to this new information. And he didn't know how to explain it. Because Mokuba had talked to someone, and he knew that it hadn't been him.

As much as he wanted to take his little brother's explanation about how work was making him forgetful, he remembered the night Mokuba was talking about. All of it, clearly. And he did not eat peanut butter that day.

He didn't even LIKE peanut butter! It was more Mokuba's thing.

Hours passed like minutes and when Seto stirred it was already dark out. Pulling himself out of his chair and groaning slightly as his muscles protested after being stationary for so long, he made his way up to Mokuba's room to check on him.

His little brother was already asleep, and Seto pulled the blankets further up his shoulders, smiling when Mokuba sighed and hugged the little stuffed dragon he still slept with closer.

Stifling a yawn of his own, Seto slunk quietly to the door and let himself out before turning back to his own room. His mind wasn't settled, but rather in a fuzzy state where it finally had stopped churning for the moment, and hopefully would remain so long enough for him to get a few hours of sleep.

He changed for bed and was brushing his teeth when he happened to glance up at his reflection in the glass. "What are you still doing up?" he asked his reflection, noticing his tired eyes. "It's late. Mokuba's going to keep you home if you get sick, you know that? And then he's going to want to play 'doctor.' And you _know_ what his 'special' chicken soup tastes like."

For a second his reflection looked lazily back at him, and it titled its head to the side and grinned at the shocked boy it was supposed to be reflecting. Seto screamed once and threw the first thing he grabbed, a glass toothbrush holder, at the mirror, shattering it.

Shiny silvery splinters of glass fell around Seto's feet, but he didn't see them. All he could hear was his loud breathing as he stared at where the mirror had hung. What the hell had happened? What had he seen?

Stumbling back into his room, leaving the glass as it lay, he sat down on his bed to think. What he had seen had not been his reflection. It had been something, someone else. But there had been no one else in the room!

Was it, could it be a ghost? But that was ridicules. He didn't believe in ghosts, or specters, or… "Spirits," Seto said aloud, his voice full of tightly wound anger and annoyance.

Wasn't Yugi always trying to tell him about a Spirit that lived in his Sennen Puzzle? Yami, he called him. Yami and Hikari. Dark and Light. Like that other boy. Pale and sweet-tempered before he had suddenly did a 180 and had become dangerous and ruthless. Yugi's little friends had kept shouting something about a Spirit controlling the boy.

Did these Sennen Spirits always look so much like the original? He had seen the changes in Yugi, but he had dismissed them as his imagination. Yugi always got taller, more confident. Darker.

But come on! How was he supposed to believe a load of crap about Ancient Pharaohs and Priests and magical wars? It was an insult to his intelligence to expect him to believe something like that. And still…

If this other…thing he was almost seeing was an ancient Spirit, wouldn't it have to connected to one of those gaudy objects? And he knew he didn't have one of those. Yet, the Sennen Rod…if Miss Ishtar was to be believed (and he wasn't saying that he did believe her) it was destined for him. And he had felt it calling out to him, stopping him from making a mistake that would have cost him the duel with Miss Ishtar during the Battle City Finals.

Finally Seto stood and picked up a small object from his dresser. Casually looking around the room, he tried to think where he would hide the item in his hand. What it was didn't matter, but if his mind and the mind of this…thing, worked the same way, maybe they would try to hide things in the same place.

And if he didn't find any Sennen Item hidden in his room, all the better and he would get on some sort of medication first thing in the morning.

Seto closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steadying his nerves, before opening them again. He took one step towards the dressers, four steps to the left, two steps back, and looked up. Grabbing a chair, he stood on it and unscrewed the plastic covering on the light bulb.

And he found nothing.

With a sigh of relief (not disappointment!), Seto dropped the thing he had been carrying into the light fixture and screwed it back into place. But as soon as his feet hit the carpet, he shook his head. "It's not that small," he admitted. That's where he would have hidden something small. He needed a hiding place for something larger.

Returning to his dresser, he selected a larger object and repeated the process. This time he ended up at the window and pulled back the curtain to hide the larger object in the shadowy corner. Again, there was nothing there. Something was messing with his mind, but whatever it was, it was NOT an Ancient Egyptian Spirit.

Shaking his head, Seto climbed into his bed and closed his eyes. He had expected to be calm now, but he was not. With a scowl, he flipped over onto his side and starred into the darkness.

The Sennen Rod was not just an odd staff. It was also a weapon with a knife hidden in within it. If he was hiding a weapon that he might need to defend himself at a moment's notice, where would be hide _that_?

Hesitantly, Seto slipped his hand under the pillow that lay on the side of the bed he never slept on, and drew out the Sennen Rod. It fit perfectly in his hand, like it had been made for him, and even in the dark, it caught the light offered by the moon and gleamed at him.

Seto cursed aloud and closed his eyes. This was not happening. This was NOT happening!

Then he felt the bed dip with another person's weight. Slowly he opened his eyes and sat up. Sitting across from him with his head in his palms, was a living reflection with pale blue eyes. It, he, whatever, smiled sweetly.

"You must be my Yami. I'm Seth."

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TBC

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Yes, you read right. Seto is the Yami and Seth is the Hikari. I've read a few stories where Seto gained a Yami, but he doesn't seem the Hikari type and they both end up very much the same. And then I thought, well, what if Seto was the Yami? Thus this story was born.

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The Inspector

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	2. Hikari talks to Much

The Light

By The Inspector

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Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, and I most likely never will. Though believe me, I would love have own a cute little pair of Bakurae. I am _this_ close to naming my next cat Ryou. But yeah, I make no money, so please don't sue me! Gracias!

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/Yami to Hikari/

::Hikari to Yami::

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"You must be my Yami. I'm Seth."

Seto just sat and starred at the other boy. At first glance they were perfectly identical, like a mirror with a mind of its own. But a closer look (like, after he stopped hyperventilating) found obvious differences. The other boy's hair was a shade lighter than Seto's, longer too and it kept falling into his wide, gentle eyes that were the pale blue shade of a newborn kitten's. His face had a softer look to it as well, easing all the angles in Seto's face, and his body seemed slighter.

In all, this other boy looked very sweet, like a little fluffy little thing you just want to pick up and snuggle, practically radiating innocence and kindness. And it was freaking him out.

"What the hell are you?" Seto demanded with a hiss. But that didn't seem to phase the…Seth. He just laughed and settled more comfortably on Seto's bed.

"What I am," Seth repeated, amused, "Interesting way to put it. I prefer 'who,' of course, but I will answer either way." He smiled at Seto's sour frown. "I am Seth, once-High Priest, living Spirit, and your Hikari."

"My what?" Seto scoffed, "Light? Ridicules. What is that even supposed to mean?"

"Right," Seth said with a patient sigh, "I can see this may take awhile." He shifted his weight and leaned over to grab a big bag of marshmallows out from under Seto's bed. Popping one in his mouth, he chewed thoughtfully for a second.

"Where the hell did those come from?" Seto demanded, eyeing the marshmallows like they were poisonous.

"The kitchen," Seth said as he swallowed, "They are wonderful!" He held one of the pieces of white fluff out. "Want one?"

"No," Seto said flatly.

Seth shrugged and put it in his mouth instead. "Okay," he said at last, pushing his hair behind his ears. "When a soul is born into the world, it consists of both light and dark sides that are combined to create a whole. When our soul was sealed away for thousands of years, it was split into two separate parts, dark and light. Of course, nothing is completely dark or light, but that's beside the point." He picked up another marshmallow. "These things are amazing. Sweet, fluffy, and squishy!"

"Would you cut that out?" Seto snapped, his hands twitching, itching to slap that offending marshmallow away. It was disturbing to see something that looked so similar to himself act like this.

"Anyway," Seth continued through a mouthful, "When the soul was reborn, you, it was only half of the original. But with rebirth comes a deletion of old memories. A new life cancels out the old. But then there is me, a snag in this universal rule. Since I was sealed away I was not able to be reborn and thus have become my separate entity, complete with memories of our former life."

Seto scowled and folded his arms across his chest. "That doesn't make sense," he said. "From what I have seen, it's always the darker half that is 'sealed away' and keeps the memories of the previous life." His smug smirk fell when Seth laughed.

"Oh my," Seth said when he caught his breath. "So you did hear what the others were trying to tell you about Yami and Hikari situations. Hearing, but not listening. No, no, it doesn't work that way. The half imprisoned will always hold the memories, but it doesn't have to be the dark half. Which half was picked to be taken was simply chance. A 50-50 thing. Yes or no. Me or you."

"And it was you."

Seth nodded, his eyes becoming a little sad as he remembered his thousands of years alone. "It's very hard for a half to exist as such. It's a lonely, cold existence." (Seto had to resist the urge to nod.)

So instead, for a few minutes anyway, Seto simply sat, trying to digest everything that…Seth had told him. He was a Yami. Seth was his Hikari. Ummm…how about no?

Seto shook his head. "No," he said bluntly, making Seth look up quickly. "I don't believe it. I refuse to believe any of this is real. You are a figment of my imagination. A tick of the mind that comes from lack of sleep. A blood clot in the brain."

Suddenly feeling more confident, Seto swept the bag of marshmallows off the bed with a fierce backhanded gesture and prodded Seth in the chest. "I don't care what you think you are," he hissed. "Get. Out."

Seth's eyes widened for a second and then he looked down at his hands, his hair falling into his face and obscuring Seto's view. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I, I didn't mean…" He shook his head and Seto saw a single tear hit the bedspread before his Hikari's body turned transparent and he disappeared.

With a sigh of relief, Seto lay back down, shoving the Sennen Rod back where he had found it, and went to sleep.

At least, he _tried_ to sleep.

At four in the morning, he realized that he was not going to be getting any sleep (at all) and he got up to do a little work before he had to go to school. But he couldn't concentrate very well. Seth's hurt voice kept coming back to him and he couldn't deny it; he had hurt his Hikari's feelings. Damn.

Not that he was admitting for a second that Seth, if Seth _was_ real (which he wasn't saying he was), was his Light. But if he was (real and his Hikari) then why did he feel so bad? He insulted The Midget and Co worse on a daily basis. Arg! It was too confusing.

As he left his room, washed and dressed for school, he pointedly ignored the scattered marshmallows on the floor. Because (close eyes) there were NO marshmallows (open eyes). Damn.

Seto made his way towards the kitchen, shaking head as he went. He was most certainly losing his mind.

As he touched the door, he heard voices in the other room and assumed that Mokuba was watching television. The younger Kaiba sometimes watched cartoons while eating breakfast, usually ending up late for school when he did unless someone pushed him along.

"Mokuba," Seto said as he entered the kitchen and made a beeline for the coffee, pouring himself a full cup. "What are you…" He trailed off as he looked up see two pairs of eyes watching him silently. One pair belonged to his brother, but the other… Seto glared and slammed his coffee cup down on the counter. "You!"

Seth visibly cringed and stood up. The Sennen Rod was in his hand, held against his chest, and he nervously put one of the gold wing-tips in his mouth. He was still dressed in his pajamas and his hair was rumpled like he had just woken up. "Yes, Yami?" he asked politely.

"What are you still doing here?" Seto demanded. "I thought I told you to leave! And don't call me Yami. I am _not_ your Yami."

"I can't leave," Seth said, looking down at the table top. "It doesn't work that way. I'm connected to you. And even if you don't want to believe it, you _are_ my Yami. And I'm your Hikari."

"I think it's really cool, Seto," Mokuba piped up in, hoping up from the table and holding Seth's hand supportively. "And Seth's really nice. Just give him a chance! Pleeaase?" Mokuba's pleading look was copied instantly by Seth, and Seto sighed in defeat. He had the feeling that the two of them would be ganging up on him a lot.

"Fine," Seto told Seth coolly. "Stay. Just don't get in my way."

For a second Seth just stood there, blinking, then he smiled brilliantly and plowed into Seto, wrapping his arms around his waist and nearly hugging the life out of him. "Thank you, Yami!" he chirped happily as he buried his head into Seto's shirt.

Standing now, Seto could see that he was actually a few inches taller than his counterpart. Yes, he said counterpart. Because whether he wanted to or not, it looked like he was going to have to admit that this clingy, wide-eyed creature with pale eyes was his Hikari. (but not because he wanted to)

"Stop," Seto whined as he pried Seth off him. "Just, don't do that."

"Seto doesn't really like to be touched," Mokuba explained to Seth as he put his cereal bowl in the sink. "He's about as cuddly as a cactus."

"Indeed," Seth said, nodding enthusiastically as Seto finally managed to push him away. "It's safer hugging an asp."

"Or a porcupine."

"Or a leopard."

"Or a shark!"

"Or a-"

"Stop!" Seto shouted, cutting into his brother and Hikari's descriptions of him. "I got the point the first time."

"Point!" Seth shrieked and laughed so much that he had to hold onto the table to support himself. It only irritated Seto more that Mokuba was laughing just as hard.

Seto felt like smacking himself in the head, but refrained from making such a fool of himself. "I've got to go, Mokuba," he said. "The car will be around for you in ten minutes."

Mokuba nodded, still giggling a little, and skipped out of the room just as Seth asked with a bright grin, "Where are we going?"

"I," Seto said with a frown, "Am going to school. You are staying here." As he watched, Seth's smile melted faster than a snowball in hell (unless hell was cold, as Seto sometimes theorized it was) and his bottom lip trembled.

"But," Seth blinked rapidly, "I, I though, I mean, I hoped-"

With a sinking feeling (think the Titanic going down) Seto realized that his Light was about to cry again. "Fine!" he shouted, making Seth jump, "Arg! You can come! Just don't cry!"

Seth grinned, all traces of near tears gone, and he picked up the Sennen Rod from the table. "Just keep this near you," he said cheerfully as he handed it to his Yami, "And I will be with you." He paused for a second, and then continued. "And if you DO try to get rid of it, know that you can't." He shrugged. "It will just show up here again. That's how I got it here in the first place after I first felt your presence."

"So that's how it happened," Seto said with a small humph as he turned the Sennen Rod over in his hand. "I wondered how the blasted thing ended up here."

"It's connected to you," Seth explained. "You're like one big Sennen Rod magnet!"

Seto sighed. "Wonderful," he groused. He headed towards the door and then glanced behind his shoulder at his Light. "Come on then," he said. "Let's go."

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::Is this your school? What class is this? What are you learning today? Do you have any friends in this class? How's the teacher? Once, in Ancient Egypt, we had a lesson from this scribe who-::

/SHUT UP!/ Seto roared through the mind link he shared with Seth. After his Light had disappeared, he hadn't thought to try to find him, until he heard his voice in his head. It had nearly given him a heart attack! Turns out it's a common way for Yami and Hikari to communicate with each other. Goodie. (Note the sarcasm)

After that, Seth wouldn't shut up. He kept yapping in Seto's head from what he had called his 'soul room,' whatever the hell that was. He could care less.

Seto was SO tempted to throw the Sennen Rod (carefully hidden in his briefcase) out the window and be done with it, but he had a horrible vision of it coming right back and beaming him over the head and he really didn't want to suffer that indignity.

Seth had at least promised to keep his chatter at a minimum while class was in session. It was just Seto's luck that he had a habit of arriving early.

::Yami? Are you mad at me? Yami? Yami! Yamiyamiyamiyami-::

"Enough!" Seto shouted. It was only after he had glared at the other students who gave him funny looks, and then realized that he had shouted out loud. /Enough,/ he repeated to Seth as he hunched lower in his chair. /Please, give it a rest. There is peace to be found in silence./

::So…you're not mad at me?:: Seth asked almost timidly.

Seto resisted the urge to bang his head repeatedly on the table and nodded. /I'm not mad at you. I'm just tired./

There was a pause, and then Seth whispered quietly, ::I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was being so loud.::

/Forget about it,/ Seto told him with a small groan. /Just, try not to act like a five year old on sugar for a few minutes, okay?/

::Okay!:: Seth agreed and he lapsed into silence, contenting himself with looking at his surroundings through his Yami's eyes. (Though doing that did cause Seto's eyes to take on a two toned look due to the different shades of blue.)

Seto was enjoying the quiet in his mind like a glass of fine wine, savoring it for all it was worth, when he felt Seth give him a small mental nudge, snapping him out of his reverie. /What?/ he asked shortly, hoping, praying, pleading with what ever Higher Power existed (if any existed at all) that the Spirit wasn't about to launch into another round of Twenty Questions.

::Do we know those people over there? Because they keep glancing over here.::

Seto sat up straighter and blinked, clearing the fog from his mind. /Who?/ he asked, his eyes sharpening.

::Over there,:: Seth said. ::The group of three to the left who just finished talking to the boy with the white hair. Huh, he reminds me a lot of someone.::

Seto didn't even have to look to know what group of people Seth was referring to. Standing, he slid over to where Jou, Anzu, and Honda were watching with dark suspicion as Ryou Bakura returned to his seat, a sad expression in his pale face.

"Well, well," Seto said, startling the three as he came up behind them. "And here I was starting to think that you believed the crap you continuously spout about friendship." He jerked his thumb back Ryou. "He certainly seems to agree."

"This is none of your business, Kaiba," Jou growled. "So stay out of it."

"I don't care what you pathetic children are squabbling about," Seto retorted. "I just thought I should point out the hypocrisy that reeks so horribly I could smell it from across the room."

::Yami? So these people are not friends?::

/Most assuredly NOT! They are just amusing to mess with. The more they know I'm right, the angrier they get./

::……You were the type who liked to melt slugs with salt when you were little, weren't you?::

"Hey! Earth to Kaiba!"

Seto blinked and nearly cursed aloud when he found all three of them looking at him oddly. Memo to self, do not start talking to Hikari in the middle of conversations. Result will make self look stupid. "What?" he snapped.

"Dude, you spaced out there for a few minutes," Honda said.

"I have a lot on my mind," Seto quipped. "I was thinking. Ever heard of it?"

"It's just that," Anzu said slowly, "Shortly after Battle City, the Sennen Ring that Malik gave to Yugi disappeared. We asked Ryou about it, but he said that he hasn't seen it. And then a few weeks ago the Sennen Rod went missing."

"So you of course expect your placid little friend," Seto said. "How nice to know that he can count on you people."

"Maybe we should ask you if you've seen either," Jou snipped back. "Going glassy on us like that, maybe you're under someone's mind control."

Seto snorted. "I am not so weak minded, Mutt," he said and turned to go back to his desk, but half way there, a small sound on his right stopped him and he looked down to see Ryou watching him with surprise and wonder. For a second his eyes flickered to the briefcase still on Seto's desk and then he looked away.

::Yami-::

/You can call me 'Seto,' you know. Not all this 'Yami' crap./

::Um, alright. Seto, let me speak to him.::

Seto was surprised at Seth's soft request and almost gave in (almost). /What? No! I am not in the mood to let everyone know that I have lost my mind./

::He already knows something is going on. He can sense the Sennen Rod in your possession. Think of him as a Sennen Bloodhound. Pleeaase?::

Seto sighed in defeat. /How do we go about this? You are NOT just appearing in front of everyone./

::Just relax,:: Seth replied, ::I'm just going to barrow you body for a few minutes.::

There was a reluctant hesitation as Seto weighed the pros and cons of letting the dangerous thing that occasionally possessed his classmate know about his Light verses listening the Seth beg and plead with him for the rest of the day. Shit, that just wasn't worth it.

/Fine./ Seto took a deep breath and felt his control slipping away. Everything got fuzzy for a second and he blinked rapidly to clear his vision, only to find himself in an unfamiliar room decorated with all his favorite things.

Slowly, Seto picked to a picture Mokuba had drawn for him once from the dresser and shook his head. "Where the hell am I?" he wondered aloud.

::Your soul room,:: Seth informed him. ::Take a look around. I'm going to talk with the Dark half of the Tomb Robber.::

Seth flexed his hands (Seto's hands, whatever), and then took a step closer to the white haired boy at the desk. "You can't keep doing this," he said kindly. Ryou looked up at him. "Please, stop before it consumes you."

Ryou shook his head, but Seth was sure he saw a flash of red and knew that the dark half had just switched with his light. "I don't know what you are talking about," 'Ryou' said innocently, but there was a warning behind his soft words.

"Yes, you do." Seth leaned closer so that no one could overhear them. "They are dead, Bakura. You must let their souls rest. You can not win against him. None of us can. I tried, and failed. It is not possible. The gods favor him above the likes of us."

"I will win," Bakura hissed, holding his physical façade except for his eyes, "And I will have my revenge. You can not stop me. I will find a way."

"All you will do," Seth corrected, "Is destroy yourself. And the soul of your Hikari." Bakura frowned and looked away. "There is still time to make amends," Seth insisted. "He will understand."

"How do you know that?" Bakura spat, his eyes burning furiously. "He hates me. I've ruined his life."

"No." Seth shook his head. "Your past is his past, and he will understand. It's the nature of Sennen Spirits and their other halves. If you gave him the choice, he would choose to die with you rather then to live alone again. You know that."

"He shouldn't," Bakura muttered, not knowing why for the life of him he was actually have a civil conversation with Mr.-I-Have-A-Stick-Up-My-Ass-Kaiba. "I don't get him. He confuses me."

"I know," Seth smiled, "But give him a chance. Give this life a chance. It does not have to end like the last one."

"How would you know?" Bakura glared accusingly at him, "I thought you didn't believe in all this magic and Spirit stuff. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Seth grinned and shook his head. "I think you've mistaken me with someone else. I am quite versed in the ways of magic. I have practiced it for thousands of years."

For a second Bakura remained motionless then he whispered, "Seth." His fingers dug into his palms, carving tiny half moons into his palms. "Are you here to kill me?"

Seth blinked once and then shook his head. "Of course not," he said softly. "I'm just trying to help."

Bakura's eyes latched onto the briefcase and then he shook his head. Seth, the powerful Priest who risked everything in an attempt to defeat the Pharaoh, was the Hikari. Guess it was safer that way. And if Seth was _here_…"So, you _do_ have the Sennen Rod. I thought so. You know they were trying to accuse me of taking it this morning?"

"I thought they might be," Seth said with a shrug. "Can't blame them really, if I recall correctly, anything was open game to you. But them, it hurts your Light to have them suspicious of him." He saw Bakura's slight nod of agreement and pressed his main issue. "If you would just stop, the two of you wouldn't have to live like this. Will you give this second life a chance? For your Light?"

Bakura growled and looked away. "I'll think about it," he said at last with a huff. "But don't expect anything. My family died for these cursed Items, and I promised them I would avenge them."

"I think they would understand. Think about it, that's all I ask," Seth grinned.

"Ra," Bakura cursed, "All you Hikari are alike. Too cheerful for your own good." But his eyes looked thoughtful.

Back at their desk, Seth gave control back to Seto and returned to his own soul room. ::Seto? Yami, thank you.::

Seto sighed and took out a book to read until the teacher showed up. He gave Mutt and Friends a dirty look and flipped the novel open to where he had left off. /You're welcome./

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TBC

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Author's Note: To answer a few questions

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Mokuba's Official Glomper, I hadn't thought to make it a Seto/Seth pairing…do you think I should? Waa! And I said 'should' cause I _know_ I 'could.'

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The Inspector

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